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Is “Class Arbitration” an Oxymoron?
April 21, 2017
“Class arbitration” — the utilization of a class action mechanism in an arbitration proceeding — is considered by some...
April 21, 2017
“Class arbitration” — the utilization of a class action mechanism in an arbitration proceeding — is considered by some...
Judge Gorsuch’s Arbitration Jurisprudence
April 21, 2017
Gorsuch stressed in his dissent in Ragab that he does not “believe conflicting contract provisions might never render an arbitration agreement void for lack of a meeting of the minds.” In Genberg v. Porter, in 2014, Gorsuch wrote a panel opinion imposing just such an outcome, ruling that the defendants, members of the board of a company from which the plaintiff had been fired, were not bound by the arbitration agreement because they had not signed it. One of the two other arbitration cases in which...
April 21, 2017
Gorsuch stressed in his dissent in Ragab that he does not “believe conflicting contract provisions might never render an arbitration agreement void for lack of a meeting of the minds.” In Genberg v. Porter, in 2014, Gorsuch wrote a panel opinion imposing just such an outcome, ruling that the defendants, members of the board of a company from which the plaintiff had been fired, were not bound by the arbitration agreement because they had not signed it. One of the two other arbitration cases in which...
Users of Commercial Mediation in New Zealand – Insurance Industry Report
April 20, 2017
The results of this survey provide an understanding of users’ perspectives on mediation. The respondents reported a good knowledge of mediation. They also indicated that the insurance industry as a whole is aware of mediation and supports the use of it. Users report they are using mediation often and believe that it is well utilised in the insurance sector. However, most estimate that the organisations they work for use mediation less than 25 times in any given year. Respondents’ main reason...
April 20, 2017
The results of this survey provide an understanding of users’ perspectives on mediation. The respondents reported a good knowledge of mediation. They also indicated that the insurance industry as a whole is aware of mediation and supports the use of it. Users report they are using mediation often and believe that it is well utilised in the insurance sector. However, most estimate that the organisations they work for use mediation less than 25 times in any given year. Respondents’ main reason...
‘Better Off, as Judged by Themselves’: A Comment on Evaluating Nudges
April 20, 2017
Many nudges are designed to make people better off, as judged by themselves. This criterion, meant to ensure that nudges will increase people’s welfare, contains some ambiguity. It is useful to distinguish among three categories of cases: (1) those in which choosers have clear antecedent preferences, and nudges help them to satisfy those preferences (often by increasing “navigability”); (2) those in which choosers face a self-control problem, and nudges help them to overcome that problem; and (3) those...
April 20, 2017
Many nudges are designed to make people better off, as judged by themselves. This criterion, meant to ensure that nudges will increase people’s welfare, contains some ambiguity. It is useful to distinguish among three categories of cases: (1) those in which choosers have clear antecedent preferences, and nudges help them to satisfy those preferences (often by increasing “navigability”); (2) those in which choosers face a self-control problem, and nudges help them to overcome that problem; and (3) those...
BATNAs in Negotiation: Common Errors and Three Kinds of “No”
April 20, 2017
The best alternative to a negotiated agreement (“BATNA”) concept in negotiation has proven to be immensely useful. In tandem with its value in practice, BATNA has become a wildly successful acronym (with more than 14 million Google results). But the initial characterization of this concept in Getting to Yes (Fisher, Ury, and Patton 1991), as well as many later interpretations, can be problematic, limiting, and even misleading in several ways, which this article analyzes and illustrates. First,...
April 20, 2017
The best alternative to a negotiated agreement (“BATNA”) concept in negotiation has proven to be immensely useful. In tandem with its value in practice, BATNA has become a wildly successful acronym (with more than 14 million Google results). But the initial characterization of this concept in Getting to Yes (Fisher, Ury, and Patton 1991), as well as many later interpretations, can be problematic, limiting, and even misleading in several ways, which this article analyzes and illustrates. First,...
Federal Judicial Center, ICPSR, Data Access, and Change
April 19, 2017
Back in the "old days," virtually immediate access to ICPSR's massive--and massively important--federal court data holdings...
April 19, 2017
Back in the "old days," virtually immediate access to ICPSR's massive--and massively important--federal court data holdings...
Dealing with the Bully at the Other Table
April 19, 2017
Professionals are supposed to act professionally, but that’s not always the case. Some attorneys have very aggressive personalities and have used that to try (and sometimes succeed) to further their legal careers. Unfortunately, some of the bullies who strutted through high school hallways passed the bar exam. One of them represents the opposing party. If the other attorney is trying to bully you what should you do? If you want to fight fire with fire and respond with anger or emotion, take...
April 19, 2017
Professionals are supposed to act professionally, but that’s not always the case. Some attorneys have very aggressive personalities and have used that to try (and sometimes succeed) to further their legal careers. Unfortunately, some of the bullies who strutted through high school hallways passed the bar exam. One of them represents the opposing party. If the other attorney is trying to bully you what should you do? If you want to fight fire with fire and respond with anger or emotion, take...
A Face-to-Face Request Is 34 Times More Successful than an Email
April 19, 2017
In research Mahdi Roghanizad of Western University and I conducted, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, we have found that people tend to overestimate the power of their persuasiveness via text-based communication, and underestimate the power of their persuasiveness via face-to-face communication. In one study, we had 45 participants ask 450 strangers (10 strangers each) to complete a brief survey. All participants made the exact same request following the exact...
April 19, 2017
In research Mahdi Roghanizad of Western University and I conducted, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, we have found that people tend to overestimate the power of their persuasiveness via text-based communication, and underestimate the power of their persuasiveness via face-to-face communication. In one study, we had 45 participants ask 450 strangers (10 strangers each) to complete a brief survey. All participants made the exact same request following the exact...
Website Promotes Access to Judiciary Information
April 18, 2017
The history and workings of the U.S. court system can now be explored with a variety of easy-to-navigate and interactive...
April 18, 2017
The history and workings of the U.S. court system can now be explored with a variety of easy-to-navigate and interactive...
How to Handle High-Stress Situations and Difficult Conversations
April 18, 2017
Stress and conversations often go hand-in-hand. The topic may be difficult, the person you’ll be talking to may be difficult and you may just want to avoid the whole thing. But whatever the issue delaying a tough conversation may not be a wise choice. Whatever the problem, it may get worse over time making talking about it even tougher. The issue to be discussed may be personal, possibly cast the person in a bad light or simply bad news. The person may be someone...
April 18, 2017
Stress and conversations often go hand-in-hand. The topic may be difficult, the person you’ll be talking to may be difficult and you may just want to avoid the whole thing. But whatever the issue delaying a tough conversation may not be a wise choice. Whatever the problem, it may get worse over time making talking about it even tougher. The issue to be discussed may be personal, possibly cast the person in a bad light or simply bad news. The person may be someone...
